Summary

With seven rhetorical questions, Paul emphasizes the undeniable variety in spiritual gifts (whereas his previous rhetorical questions in 1 Corinthians 12:17–19 served to highlight the importance of this variety). Although some gifts have priority over others, all gifts are necessary. For that reason God has not given to all members the same gifts.

At the time of Paul’s writing, there were no apostles living in Corinth (see 1 Corinthians 5:3–4). Since healings and the working of miracles were specifically given to the apostles to perform (see the comments under 1 Corinthians 12:9–10), we can assume that these gifts were not found within the Corinthian church at the time. However, from 1 Corinthians 14:1–40 it is clear that there were two extraordinary gifts that some Corinthian church members did possess, namely, prophecy and speaking in tongues.

The book of Acts relates how the last mentioned gifts were sometimes given to believers through the laying on of hands by the apostles (Acts 19:6). This was also true in the case of the seven (Acts 6:3–6, Acts 6:8; Acts 8:6–7). The only exception is the case of Cornelius and his household (Acts 10:44–48). In their case, the gift of tongues was a means used by the Spirit to demonstrate that the kingdom of God was open also to the Gentiles (see Acts 11:15–18).

It is therefore not unlikely that the Corinthians had received these two extraordinary gifts through the laying on of hands by the different apostles who had worked among them (1 Corinthians 1:12; 1 Corinthians 3:5). From 1 Corinthians 14:1–40 we get the idea that these gifts were exercised by a relatively large number of Corinthian church members.